


Family Ties

by kitlee625



Category: Castle, Law & Order
Genre: F/M, Murder Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-20
Updated: 2013-03-20
Packaged: 2017-12-05 21:35:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/728163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitlee625/pseuds/kitlee625
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>New York's finest try to bring a woman's murderer to justice as they unravel secrets about a very powerful Manhattan family. Part of the same universe as Five Times.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A woman is found murdered in Central Park, and Alexis and James meet.

The first time he saw her he was shelving books at Barnes & Noble. He looked up from the stack of college guides in his box to see a beautiful red-headed girl standing over him.

“Hi,” she said brightly, “I'm looking for the Princeton Review Guide.”

She was so beautiful he couldn't help but stare a minute. “Uh, sure.” He stood up and handed her the book. “Here you go.” He didn't want her to just rush off, so he added, “Are you a senior or a junior?”

“Senior. I go to Marlowe Prep. What about you?”

“I'm a senior too. At Styvuscent.”

“Cool. Do you know where you want to go to college?”

“Not sure yet. I'd love to go to Columbia, but I'm applying pretty broadly. Where are you looking?”

“All over too. I thought about going to Stanford, but now I'm not so sure.” Alexis looked away for a minute and then back at the row of college guides. “Anyway that's why I wanted to get some guides.”

“Here you go.” He handed her the Princeton Review Guide as well as The Insider's Guide to the Colleges. “This one's good too. I'm James, by the way.”

“Alexis. Thanks.”

He smiled at her. “Hey, I don't usually do this, but I'm going to get off work in about an hour. Do you want to get a cup of coffee?”

Alexis turned bright red. “Um, thanks, but, I really have to run. I'm sorry. I have an internship to get to tonight.”

“An internship?” he asked doubtfully.

“Yeah, I'm working at the medical examiner's office, you know to explore my career options.”

“And pad the old resume,” James added. He thought it sounded like something his parents would try to rope him into.

Alexis blushed again. “Not just that. Anyway, thanks for the books.”

*****

The next time James saw her was a few months later. He and his mother were jogging through the park early Saturday morning.

“Come on James, hurry up,” Claire Kincaid shouted behind her.

James groaned and picked up the speed. “Can we stop, for a second?” he asked.

Claire laughed and slowed down. “What's the matter, is your old mom too fast for you?”

James didn't want to admit that it was because he'd been up playing World of Warcarft. “That must be it, Mom.”

Claire gave her son a knowing look. “How late did you stay up playing video games?”

“2 am,” he confessed.

“James!”

“Mom! Relax. It's not a big deal. I did almost all of my weekend homework before, and I'll do the rest this afternoon. I promise.”

Claire shook her head at her son. “All right. Come on let's loop back around to 81st, and we can pick up some bagels on the way home.”

James started to follow her but something in the bushes caught his eye. He walked over to get a closer look. “Hey Mom – what – oh my god!” He saw the body of a young woman, clearly dead. She was wearing a thin white gown and at first glance almost looked like she was only sleeping except for the unnatural grey color to her skin.

Claire came up behind her son. “James, call 911.”

Even though it was early it didn't take long before the scene was swarming with crime scene photographs, police officers, detectives, and the medical examiner. 

Detective Kate Beckett walked up to them with Richard Castle. “Hello, I'm Detective Kate Beckett, and this is Richard Castle, mind if I asked you a few questions?”

Claire nodded. “Of course not, go ahead. We've actually met before Detective. I'm Claire Kincaid, with the District Attorney's office. My son and I were out for a run this morning when we saw the body.”

“What time was that?”

“We left our apartment around 6 am, so I would say we found the body no later than 6:30.”

“And you saw the body from the path?” Castle asked.

“No, we had stopped for a breather when my son spotted her.”

“I saw something red in the bushes,” James said.

“This is your son?” Beckett asked.

“Yes. James, James McCoy-Kincaid. We already gave our names and a statement to one of the officers,” she said.

“Okay, thanks,” Beckett said.

“Detective, any more questions?” Claire asked, “my son and I really need to be getting home.”

“No, thank you. We'll get in touch if we have any other questions,” Beckett said.

Claire turned to her son only to find that he had wandered over towards the young woman assisting the medical examiner. She rolled her eyes.

James had been looking around aimlessly when he spotted a beautiful red-haired girl squatting next to the medical examiner. It only took a minute for him to recognize her as the girl from the bookstore a few months previously.

“Hi, Princeton Review Guide, right?” he asked with a smile.

Alexis looked up confused. “Excuse me?”

“James McCoy-Kincaid. We met at the Barnes & Noble a few months ago. You were picking up college guides.”

“Oh, hi. I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you.” Alexis turned her attention away from the body long enough to take in the boy standing in front of her. He was tall, with thick dark hair that flopped over his forehead and dark brown eyes. Definitely handsome, even wearing a sweaty Stuyvesant t-shirt and short black running shorts. From his smile and look in his eyes she guessed that he knew it.

“So, how's your Saturday morning going?” he asked.

Alexis looked at him like he was crazy. “Well, I'm here,” she said gesturing to the dead body in front of her.

“So not the perfect morning,” he said. “But potential for the day to get better. Any plans later ?”

“Sorry, but I'm going to be helping out on this case today at the Medical Examiner's office,” Alexis said.

Before he could say anything else, his mother was standing beside him. “Come on James, let's go home.”

James smiled at Alexis. “See you around.”

Castle watched the entire exchange and turned to Beckett. “Can you believe that kid?”

Beckett, who was talking to a officer, said, “What?”

“That kid over there talking to Alexis.”

“The witness?” Beckett asked.

“What kind of boy hits of a girl at a crime scene?” Castle asked.

“I don't know Castle,” Beckett said, “sounds like something you'd do.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castle and Beckett identify the victim, and James and Alexis meet in an elevator

Later that day Castle and Beckett swung by the medical examiner's office. Ryan and Esposito had gotten almost nothing by going over the scene. It was clear that she had been killed in the park, but beyond that they hadn't found any shell casings, fingerprints, wallet, or ID.

“Please tell me you have something on this woman, Lanie,” Beckett said as she walked into the morgue.

“Well I can tell you that the cause of death is a GSW to the back.” She gestured at the body. “The bullet entered here and pierced through her lung and her right pulmonary artery. She bled to death almost instantly.”

“Could this have just been a mugging gone wrong?” Castle asked. “She wasn't found with her cellphone, wallet or coat, presumably the perp took them.”

“Unlikely,” Lanie said. “There are no signs of a struggle, and she was shot in the back. It would have to be one cold hearted mugger who would start by shooting his target in the back.”

“Okay, what about her identity?” Beckett asked.

“Now that's going to be a little bit harder. She has no tattoos, surgical scars, or other identifying marks. I ran her prints through the system just in case, but she's not there.”

Beckett groaned. “Is there anything Lanie?”

Castle studied the woman's face. “Hang on, I think I know her.”

The two women stared at him. “How do you know the victim?” Beckett asked incredulously.

“From this,” Castle said triumphantly. He tapped on his smartphone and pulled up an invitation for a book signing. “This is an email I got about attending a book signing for Piper Cooper. Her first novel just hit the New York Times bestseller's list.”

“Hmm,” Becket raised an eyebrow, “nice work Castle.” She studied the picture on his phone and looked back at the victim. It definitely looked like her. She pulled out her phone and dialed the precinct. “Hey Ryan, it's Beckett. Yeah, we got an ID on our victim. She's an author – Piper Cooper. Contact her family and her agent. Find out what we can get on her.”

*****

James smiled at his own good luck when he ran into Alexis for a third time while standing in the elevator at the medical examiner's officer. 

“We meet again,” he said with a smile.

Alexis looked up as if trying to place him. “Hello?”

“James McCoy-Kincaid. We met a few months ago at Barnes & Noble, and then at a crime scene a few days ago.”

“Oh, hi. I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you.” 

James straightened the blue striped tie his mom had picked out. “Yeah, well the district attorney's office likes suits, not khakis and polo shirts, or running shorts.”

“You're working there now?” Alexis asked.

“My parents lined up an internship, part time. They're both lawyers. I'm still working at the Barnes & Noble though. How's your internship here?”

“It's going well. I'm learning a lot, but I'm still trying to sort out where I want to go to college.”

“What are you deciding between?”

“Stanford, Oxford, and Columbia.”

“Nice choices,” James commented. “What are you leaning towards?”

“I'm not sure yet,” Alexis admitted. “How about you?”

“Um, I got into Columbia, but I'm not sure right now. I got scholarships to Michigan, UNC, and Northwestern, so I'm trying to decide.”

The elevator doors dinged open on the third floor. “Well, this is me. I'm picking up some paperwork for the DA's office.” He started to leave the elevator but paused in the doorway. “Hey, I don't know if you're busy or something, but if you want to get a cup of coffee and talk more about college stuff ….”

Alexis blushed but said, “You're very bold, you know that. Either that or really into coffee.”

“Ah so you do remember me,” he said triumphantly. “Come on, I promise I'm not a serial killer or a crazy person. I'm just a nice 18-year-old boy at Stuy who is spends all this time working and would like to buy you a cup of coffee.” He flashed a charming smile.

Alexis couldn't help herself. “Okay, but just coffee.”

He grinned. “Great. Does tonight work?”

“Sounds good. I get off at seven.”

“I'll pick you up.” James waved, and Alexis smiled back.


End file.
